What Could Have Been

Not much holds my attention on television, creativity has plummeted. Leave to Amazon to change that with its original series A Man in the High Castle. Based on famed sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick’s novel, it opens with this disturbing premise:

The Allies lost World War II and the Nazis and Imperial Japan rule the United States.

A fledgling resistance and simmering unrest between Japan and Germany is set in a dystopian 1960s that isn’t exactly the ’60s we remember. The producers have put fort a movie-level effort in the reimagining what the country would be like. The production design, subtle FX and the historical allusions (like the disturbing cause of the “snow” on one scene of the pilot episode) combined with a well-realized plot for an immersive, and cautionary, tale.

Having watched Season 1 in its entirety, one thing is for certain: Amazon has officially put itself on the map for original television (networks take note).

P.S. Read more on the series here. And muse over the irony of a show on fascism having its ads censored.

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History warns us. Legend fascinates us. Imagination drives us. Authors take these and create worlds that entertain, provoke and warn. Ultimately, even fiction is about the Story we all find ourselves in.